Rare Mechanical Failure Ends Duno’s Kansas Run Early

KANSAS CITY, KS. (October 20, 2012) – Milka Duno’s run in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menard’s season finale at Kansas Speedway ended early due to a rare differential failure. Prior to the failure Duno, who started the 99-lap race in 25th, quickly gained 7 positions and advanced to 18th prior to the first yellow flag – which was waved at the start of the race’s 2nd lap.

With Duno’s rapid gain of positions both she and her Dave Leiner Racing team were hopeful for a good race and a strong finish.

In the beginning of the race Duno was resetting her “best lap” with each and every consecutive lap - but then the lap speeds started to go down. Duno and the team were unsure of exactly what the issue might be and intended to bring her into the pits under green flag conditions when the second yellow flag came out.

Pitting under caution the crew put on a new set of tires and took a quick look and sent Duno back out to maintain position. With lap speeds continuing to decrease Duno was brought back in. Not able to fully diagnose the problem in the pits the car went behind the wall. It was then that the differential failure was diagnosed and Duno and the team knew that was the end of their race.

“It was a major disappointment for us,” said Duno. “We had a great start to the race and we were energized by this and were looking forward to a great race. It’s unfortunate when mechanical failures happen – but they do happen. I could tell something was wrong as it felt that I was driving on only three wheels and with the differential failure that’s exactly what was happening. There was no power getting to the right rear wheel so I had only one wheel powering the car forward.”

“You do the best that you can and prepare as best as you can – but sometimes mechanical failures occur,” said crew chief and team owner Dave Leiner. “It’s all a part of racing. Unfortunately it bit us here at Kansas and put an early end to what started as a very promising effort. Next up for us is some off-season testing and we look forward to being back on the track.”

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About Milka Duno:
Duno has eight major race wins in the highest classes (Prototype) in the American Le Mans Series and Rolex Series and the highest finish ever by a female driver (2nd Place) in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in the 48-year history of the race. Off the track, Duno is a certified Naval Engineer who holds four master’s degrees, earning the last three simultaneously.

Duno is also working through her “Milka Way” program to inspire youth to “Aim for the Stars” and achieve academic excellence. For more information on Milka Way, visit www.milkaway.com.

Follow Milka:
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